


we'll meet again

by theheadgirl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Christmas, Facebook: The Pen15 is Mightier, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Hotels, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21596875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theheadgirl/pseuds/theheadgirl
Summary: Bucky inherits a hotel from his great-aunt. It's super haunted. Luckily, the hot handyman, Steve, and Bucky's friends are there to help.
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35
Collections: Pen15 is Mightier Holiday Gift Exchange 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Azrel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azrel/gifts).



His phone starts buzzing in his pocket. With a sigh, Bucky reaches into his pocket and glances at the screen. It's the same unidentified number that's been calling him over and over again. He doesn't usually answer numbers he doesn't know, so it's been bouncing to voicemail.

His thumb hovers over the red icon to dismiss the call, then he sighs and swipes the green icon.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm looking for James Barnes, please?"

"Speaking."

"Oh, I'm so glad I've been able to get a hold of you!" Bucky feels a shot of guilt in his stomach. "My name is Karen. I'm calling from Murdock and Nelson, an attorney's office."

"What is this about?" Bucky asks. None of his friends are in legal trouble (as far as he knows).

"This is in regards to the estate of Eloise Buchanan," Karen explains. 

Eloise Buchanan? "Great Aunt Eloise died?"

"Oh." A brief inhale on the other end. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you." There's an awkward pause. "Would you be able to come into the office sometime this week to go over her bequest to you?" 

"Sure."

"Great." She sounds relieved. "When would you like to come in? Mr. Nelson doesn't have a lot of availability tomorrow, but he does have a slot or two open late afternoon on Thursday. Would that work for your schedule?"

Bucky mentally reviews his own schedule. "I finish up at three on Thursday. I can do after that."

"Great. I'll schedule you for four o'clock." She gives him an address and Bucky taps it into his phone. "I look forward to seeing you, Mr. Barnes."

"Thanks, Karen. I'll see you then." He taps the button to hang up and looks at the blank screen for a moment before putting his phone away. What could his great-aunt possibly have left him? He doesn't think he's seen her since he was about seven, when they'd go to visit her around Christmas. It was Connecticut or something - an interminable drive for a little boy through endless snowy scenery. They'd stopped visiting her suddenly, and his mom had never explained why. 

Maybe he'll ask his mom. 

His call goes to voicemail. "Hey, Mom. I just got a weird call from Great Aunt Eloise's lawyer. They said that she left me something, but they wouldn't go into detail. Do you know what it could be? I'm out of work, so call me whenever. Love you. Bye." He hangs up and stuffs his phone back into his pocket, then rejoins the flow of humanity on the sidewalk.

The meeting with the lawyer hangs over his head for the next few days, lurking at the back of his thoughts as he goes through his day. When he's not on a phone call or reviewing a problem for a customer, he tries again and again to remember anything he and his great aunt bonded over, or anything special she showed him, or  _ anything _ that might be useful. He keeps running up against his faulty memory, and all he can recall is the way she smelled, like lavender and lemon. 

His mom is also not a lot of help.

"I don't know, honey," she says apologetically. "Aunt Eloise had a lot of knickknacks - she might have earmarked any of them for you."

"She never mentioned anything special?"

"No, I don't think so. I hope you'll let your father and I know when you do find out! Maybe she left you the hotel." His mom laughs. 

Bucky pauses mid-pace, staring at the far wall of the break room. “The hotel?” He’d always just thought it was her  _ house _ . 

Her very large house, that had a front desk, and strangers staying in it.

Oh.

"Oh, yes, don't you remember? We'd go to visit her there every Christmas."

"Do you think that's likely?"

"I doubt it. I know she was living there until she passed, but I imagine her estate will sell it."

"Mom, why did we stop visiting her?"

Down the line, Bucky hears his mom inhale, then breathe out. She makes a sound like she's about to say something, then the line goes silent.

"Mom?"

"I have to go, honey. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Talk to you later. Love you."

"I love you too." She ends the call, and Bucky shifts the phone to look at the smiling picture of her on his screen. That was … weird. She was definitely avoiding the question. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that his mom didn't want to talk about it - but it hadn't been bad enough to cut off communication with her entirely. Maybe his dad or sister would be more open about it. 

On Thursday, about fifteen minutes before the appointment, Bucky checks the address on his phone against the address on the building in front of him. The numbers match, so he breathes in, shakes the nerves out of his shoulders, and goes in. 

"Can I help you?" the bored-looking security guard at the front desk asks. 

"I have an appointment at four o'clock with Nelson and Murdock."

The security guard nods. "Sign in. Third floor."

"Thanks." 

When the elevator doors open on the third floor, Bucky finds himself directly in front of a glass wall inscribed with the words "NELSON AND MURDOCK, ATTORNEYS AT LAW."

"Found it," he murmurs, then pushes the door open. The young woman at the front desk looks up and smiles at him. Bucky smiles back, appreciative. She's about his age, very pretty, with long straight blonde hair and clear blue eyes. 

"I've got a four o'clock appointment with Mr. Nelson," he says. "James Barnes?"

"It's nice to see you in person, Mr. Barnes," she says. "Have a seat. Mr. Nelson is finishing up on a call."

Bucky nods and perches in one of the seats in the waiting area. As he waits, one of the doors in the suite opens and a young man in a suit and dark glasses steps out, his white cane tapping along the floor. 

"Karen, I'm going to get coffee, you want anything?"

"No thanks. Well ... a chai latte?" 

"You got it." The man turns his head to Bucky. "Good afternoon. Sorry, no coffee for you."

Bucky laughs. "I'm caffeinated enough."

The man grins and goes out.

"That's Mr. Murdock," Karen explains. She checks her watch. "I thought he was running late for his coffee run."

About two minutes after four, the other door opens. "Karen, is Mr. Barnes here?"

"He is."

"Great. Come in, Mr. Barnes."

Bucky gathers himself and nods to Karen, then steps into the office. The man waiting behind the desk is tall and burly with light hair, and he holds a hand out.

"Franklin Nelson. I've been handling your great-aunt's affairs. Please, have a seat." He gestures for Bucky to sit and resumed his own seat, picking up a folder from the top of his desk. He opens it briefly and then offers it to Bucky.

"Eloise made a very specific and rather unusual bequest to you," Nelson says. "Did you know she owned an inn in Connecticut?"

Bucky's mom's words ring in his head.  _ Maybe she left you the hotel. _

"She left me the hotel?"

"She did indeed. Along with a generous allowance to assist with its upkeep, although - well, have a look in the folder."

Bucky opens the folder and feels his childhood Christmases come rushing back to him. The hotel looks the same as it did when he was seven, all intricate woodwork and glass-fronted curio cabinets. 

Next to the sheaf of pictures is a thin packet of papers stapled together. Bucky skims it and when he finds the allowance, his eyebrows shoot straight up. Just that is  _ significantly  _ more than he makes answering help desk calls. 

_ In order to qualify for the allowance and ownership of the Newburgh Inn _ , the paper continues,  _ James must take up residence at the inn for no less than ninety continuous days, and must retain the current staff. He will find them to be loyal, excellent employees. _

"I have to live there for three months?" Bucky says, head jerking up to look at Nelson. "What about my apartment here? My job?"

"That's up to you, Mr. Barnes," Nelson says, completely unhelpfully. "If you choose to pursue ownership, your aunt's allowance will cover the apartment's rent for the ninety days. As for your job…" He shrugs. "Your great aunt, when I had the pleasure of working with her, seemed perfectly happy making a living at her inn."

"How long do I have to make a decision?" Bucky asks. 

Nelson looks at a calendar on the wall. "The end of the year. About a month."

"What happens if I don't take it?" 

"Ownership would then transfer to the next in the order of succession, meaning it would go to your mother, Carolyn. If Carolyn Barnes elects not to take it, the inn would be sold and the profits donated."

Bucky sighs. "If I go visit ahead of time, would that constitute agreeing? Or is it okay if I go have a look?"

"I think that would be fine."

"Thanks." He knows he can't do that to his mom, and the idea of selling the hotel makes him sad. Also sad, though, is leaving New York - his apartment, his job, friends, family. 

"That's all I need to go over with you," Nelson says. "Take the folder with you. Let's schedule to meet again at the end of the year to hear your final decision."

"Thanks, Mr. Nelson." Bucky stands and holds out a hand. Nelson shakes it and Bucky leaves, saying goodbye to Karen as well.

As soon as he's out on the street, he gets his phone out of his pocket and sends a text to four contacts:

_ Who's got time off they can use next week? I just inherited a hotel. _

Text sent, he taps to his contacts and immediately dials his mom.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, so you're gonna explain that text," Shuri says. She reaches for a piece of pizza. T'Challa offers her a napkin.

"For the grease," he says in response to her arched eyebrows.

"Right," Shuri says, and ignores the proffered napkin, lifting the pizza to her and taking a bite. T'Challa tsks.

"My great aunt Eloise died and left me the hotel she owned and an upkeep allowance," Bucky explains. "But there's a catch. I have to stay there for ninety days. The lawyer says the allowance will cover my rent, but I can't take three months off from my job."

"You're doing it?" Carol asks. 

"I don't know," Bucky replies. "I haven't been to the hotel since I was a kid, and I don't know anything about running a hotel. So I thought if you could come down with me next week, we could have a look and that might help me decide."

"What happens if you decline?" T'Challa asks.

"It goes to my mom, and if my mom doesn't take it, it gets sold. I know my mom won't take it - we suddenly stopped visiting Aunt Eloise and she won't talk about why."

"I'm in," Carol says. "I can take off Wednesday through Friday."

"Me too," Shuri chimes in. "They won't miss me for a couple of days."

"All right," T'Challa allows after a moment of silence. "We'll leave Tuesday night and come back Saturday. That gives us Sunday to figure out your next steps."

Bucky smiles. Although Shuri is constantly irritated by her brother's taking charge of every situation, he appreciates it.

"Thanks. Maybe it'll be fun."

"Turn right," the GPS chirps, and Bucky clicks the turn signal on and turns the car. The roads have been getting increasingly quiet and full of trees in the two and a half hours since they'd left New York, and the streetlights are few and far between. The only light comes from the winter moon reflecting off the snow, and the headlights on the car. 

It's all very picturesque but it makes Bucky nervous. This feels like the beginning of every horror movie - the four city slickers driving through the Connecticut backroads with only the moon to guide them. He keeps expecting a madman with a machete to leap out in front of them, or a woman in white to suddenly appear with a prophecy of doom. 

"We're almost there," he says. "About five minutes."

The road takes them into a small town: there's a post office, a general store, and in the distance, Bucky can make out a church spire. 

Then, there it is: the Victorian mansion painted steel blue with pristine white trim and black roof. The roof is trimmed with white lights twisted with greenery, and a lit Christmas tree sits on the front porch.

"Oh, this place is haunted as hell," Shuri says, leaning between the front seats to get a better look at it. "Bucky, you did not mention that."

"It's not," Bucky insists. "We went there every year when I was young and I never saw anything."

"I think I'm with Shuri," says Carol. "I'm getting some major spooky vibes from this place."

"Oh, come on," Bucky says. He looks at T'Challa for any support, but he shrugs. 

"You probably own a haunted hotel, Bucky. Are congratulations in order?"

"I hate all of you," Bucky grouses. He pulls into the small parking lot in front of the house and turns it off. They gather their bags and go up onto the front porch.

"Hope the ghosts don't interfere with the wifi," Shuri says. 

Carol cackles. “Playful spirits have interrupted your stream. Would you like to continue  _ Queer Eye _ ?”

Despite himself, Bucky feels a twinge of nerves at the back of his head as he reaches for the elaborate doorknob on the front door. It twists in his hand and swings open noiselessly. Behind him, Shuri imitates a door creaking open. 

The door opens onto a beautiful lobby with a chandelier glittering overhead and a Christmas tree covered in gold and blue baubles in pride of place. Pine swags decorate the walls, and there’s a large wreath with blue and gold decorations that perfectly match the tree. It takes Bucky a moment to recognize the quiet piano music as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” 

“Wow,” says T’Challa.

“Yeah,” Bucky agrees. He takes in a breath and goes to the front desk.

“Good evening,” says the woman behind the desk. “Do you have a reservation?”   
  
“Yes, for two rooms,” Bucky says. “Barnes?”

“Ah, Miss Eloise’s great-nephew,” the woman says. Her lips twitch downward slightly. “She was a wonderful woman. We all miss her very much.” Before Bucky has to try to think of something to say (does he offer  _ her _ condolences? Does he say thank you?), she shakes her head and continues,

“My name is Peggy. Your great-aunt hired me as front desk staff right out of college. I’ve been here ever since.” She smiles. “I look forward to working with you, too, Mr. Barnes.”

“Bucky. No one calls me Mr. Barnes.”

“Bucky, then. We have you and your friends in rooms 600 and 602. It’s a suite. We call it the Hollywood Suite, since those are the rooms we offer visiting celebrities and even royalty when they’re looking for somewhere beautiful and quiet to stay.”

“What celebrities have you had stay here?” Carol asks.

“Oh, we had many famous names stay here in the ‘30s, even through the ‘50s,” Peggy replies. “That was before my time, of course, but some notable names still come through. Tony Stark - the philanthropist, I’m sure you’ve heard of him - brought his wife here just before their daughter was born. Mr. Stark was very effusive in his praise of the Newburgh.”

“Hear that, T’Challa?” Shuri says, elbowing her brother. “You’re going to sleep in the same bed as Tony Stark.”

“Please phrase that differently,” T’Challa says, pained.

Bucky laughs. “I think we’re all a little punchy. We’ll head up to the room now.”

“Of course.” Peggy points with two fingers towards the back of the lobby. “The elevators are right there. We’ve arranged a tour with the facilities manager for you tomorrow. Pleae enjoy your stay at the Newburgh Inn.”

“Thanks, Peggy,” says Bucky. He and the others gather their things and go to the elevator. Shuri presses the button to summon it and the doors open with a pleasant “ding!”

Once the doors close behind them, Carol says, “They’re gagging for you, aren’t they, ‘Mr. Barnes?’”

Bucky shrugs. “I’m a known quantity. I don’t take the place, my mom doesn't take it, it gets sold, and who knows what happens to it then?”

“So it’s in their best interest to make sure they show you their best face, and that you’re very happy here,” T’Challa remarks.

“Wonder if that means they hid the ghosts,” Shuri says.

The doors open at the sixth floor. It is very quiet here: the floors are made of dark parquet wood and the walls are covered in blue silk wallpaper. The light comes from sconces placed along the walls, and on a table between the elevators is an arrangement of holly and poinsettias, reflected in a large, circular mirror.

“The Hollywood Suite” is tucked into a corner, far from any potential noise of the elevator. 

“All right, Hollywood Suite,” Bucky says. He taps the keycard against the lock and it beeps, the light turning green. He pushes open the door and reaches for the light switch, pressing it on.

“Tony Stark slept here,” Carol murmurs, taking it all in.

Rooms 600 and 602 are a two bedroom suite, and Bucky is certain it’s nicer than anywhere he's ever stayed in his entire life, and anywhere he might ever stay again. Like the hallway outside, the walls are covered with blue silk wallpaper, and a beautiful arrangement of white flowers sits on a table between two silk-upholstered chairs. The floor has dove-grey carpet, and the overall feeling is restrained luxury. 

On the wall is a huge flat-screen TV facing a pale blue couch and two chairs, and a dark wood coffee table in front of it. It has two remote controls carefully arrayed on it, along with a listing of TV channels and a couple of magazines with beautiful photos of New England scenery on the covers. 

“I got twelve percent bougier just seeing this,” Shuri says. “What do the bedrooms look like?” 

“Forget the bedroom, what about the bathroom?” T’Challa says. 

As his friends split off to explore, Bucky takes a moment to look at it all, letting it all wash over him. 

This could all be mine, he thinks. I could stay here - well, whenever someone famous isn’t using it. I could stay here for three months.

Despite his misgivings about all the things he’d leave behind, it is pretty tempting.

The next morning, Bucky wakes up and stares at an unfamiliar ceiling. He has a moment of disorienting confusion before he remembers that he’s staying at his great aunt’s (or, potentially,  _ his _ ) hotel, in the Hollywood Suite. He looks over at the other bed, which is as empty and neatly made as though no one slept there. 

He kicks off the comforter and goes to the window, pushing aside the curtains to get a look at the town in the daylight. The sun glints off the snow, which stretches along the ground in an unbroken field of white to the woods behind the hotel. It feels like something out of a painting. 

Once he’s dressed for the day, Bucky goes into the living area. Shuri is on her laptop, typing furiously, eyes narrowed in intense concentration. T’Challa is reading something on his phone, brows slightly furrowed, pausing every so often to highlight something with his finger.

“Good morning,” T’Challa says to Bucky.

“Morning. Where’s Carol?”

“Run,” says Shuri. She taps her laptop screen. “She said she wouldn’t be long.” 

At that moment, as though summoned, Carol breezes in, her face red from the cold.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she says, “then I’m going to destroy that entire adorable breakfast buffet they have downstairs. If you all want anything, you’d better get there before I do.”

They do wait for Carol to shower and change before they head downstairs. At the elevator, Bucky glances in the mirror on the wall between them. There's a little girl behind him, staring at him like she’s studying him. Bucky glances over his shoulder, then back into the mirror.

There’s no little girl.

“You good?” Shuri asks. 

“Yeah, fine.” He could make an excuse but has no idea what he could possibly offer. The doors of the elevator open and he steps in with the others. 

The floor indicator shows 6, then 5.

The lights go out, leaving the elevator in pitch blackness. 

With a jolt, the elevator drops, then stops just as abruptly, causing them to stumble against each other and the walls. Although Bucky knows they couldn’t have dropped more than a foot, maybe two, his heart is racing like they fell three stories.

“What the hell?” Bucky bursts out.

The lights come back up, and the elevator continues down like nothing happened.

“Bucky, your haunted hotel is trying to kill us,” Shuri says, but the tremble in her voice belies the humor she’s going for.

“Yeah, I’m gonna have a word with the maintenance guy here,” Bucky says. He’s still scared, but more than that, he’s  _ mad _ . No damn hotel is going to try and kill off his friends. 

The elevator opens at the lobby and the four of them hurry out. Bucky goes right to the front desk.

“Good morning, Bucky,” Peggy says.

“Good morning,” he replies with surprising ease, considering how upset he is. “There’s something wrong with the elevator.”

Something flickers in Peggy’s eyes, but vanishes in an instant. “What happened?”

“We were coming down, then the lights went out, and we dropped,” Bucky exclaims. He thinks, briefly, of the little girl in the mirror, then pushes the thought aside.

“Oh, dear,” says Peggy, eyes widening. “I’ll have Steve take a look at it right away.” She pulls out a walkie-talkie. “Steve, can you have a look at Elevator 2? We received a guest complaint.”

“On my way,” a man’s voice crackles out of the walkie-talkie.

“I’m so sorry,” Peggy says, setting the walkie-talkie down. “We’ll get it seen to. Why don’t you stay for a minute, meet Steve?”

Bucky nods. Steve must be the maintenance guy, and Bucky would like to give him a piece of his mind about his apparently shoddy elevator maintenance skills.

“Here he is,” Peggy says.

Bucky turns, opening his mouth to begin his tirade, and then his mouth just … stays open.

The man walking towards them is a Greek statue brought to life by some kind of witchcraft. That’s the only explanation. There’s no way this guy is a regular human being.

He’s tall - about as tall as Bucky - with broad shoulders and chest that tapers down into a narrow waist and muscular legs. His black henley clings to his chest, and Bucky vaguely wonders if he purposely buys his shirts a size too small or if that’s as big as they get and he’s just that big. 

As if that weren’t enough, he looks like he just walked out of a 1940s editorial about the ideal American man. His jawline is unfairly chiseled and his dark blond hair is perfectly styled. His eyes are a piercing blue, and when they meet Bucky’s, the corner of his mouth twitches into a smile. 

One thought echoes through Bucky’s head.

_ Oh no _ .

“Hi, I’m Steve,” the statue says, extending a hand to Bucky when he’s close enough. “You had some trouble with the elevator?”

“Yeah,” Bucky says, and yep, he sounds pretty much like he’s been knocked in the face. Ugh. “The lights went out and it dropped a foot or two.”

“All right,” says Steve. “Sorry you experienced that. I’ll have a look.” He nods to them and strides towards the elevators.

“Thanks, Peggy,” Bucky says to her. The smile she gives him also seems a little dazed.

"Who was that?" Carol asks as he joins them at the breakfast buffet. As promised, she has three plates in front of her, one already decimated, the second halfway there, and the final one waiting for her. 

"You look like someone hit you in the face with a two-by-four,” Shuri adds.

"Steve," Bucky replies. He shakes his head like a dog shaking off the wet, trying to clear his thoughts. "I'm going to get something to eat."

At eleven sharp, Bucky, Carol, T'Challa, and Shuri gather by the front desk to wait for the tour with the facilities manager.

"He just radioed, he'll be a minute or two late," Peggy says. "Thanks for your patience."

A short time later, the radio squawks and Peggy picks it up. "Are you on your way?"

The voice on the other end is, to Bucky, a garbled mess of sound, but Peggy seems to understand. "Okay, we'll see you soon."

A pair of doors near the back of the lobby open and Steve steps out, wiping his hands on a rag. He's frowning, forehead furrowed as he comes over to the front desk. Just looking at him, Bucky feels like he's been hit in the head again. 

"Everything okay with the elevator?" Peggy asks.

"Spent the whole morning in there and I couldn't find a thing wrong with it," Steve replies with a shrug. "I'll keep looking after the tour." He turns to the others and his eyebrows raise slightly as he spots Bucky. 

"Ah. Peg, you didn't mention this was Miss Eloise's great-nephew."

"It didn't come up," Peggy replies.

Steve shakes his head and again offers his hand to Bucky. "I'm Steve Rogers, facilities manager for the Newburgh. You're James?"

"Bucky," Bucky corrects him, shaking his hand. It's big, and warm, and calloused. "No one's called me James since fourth grade."

Steve smiles. "Bucky, then." Bucky's knees go weak at the sound of Steve's voice saying his name, and he hopes the look on his face isn't too stupid or besotted. 

"These are my friends, Carol, T'Challa, and Shuri," he says hurriedly. "Peggy said it was okay if they joined us for the tour."

"Yeah, of course. Follow me."

Once Steve turns his back, Shuri elbows Bucky and gives him a significant look. Bucky gives her the universal facial expression for "be cool," and Shuri smirks, showing that she has absolutely zero intention of being cool.

"I thought we'd start with the building itself," Steve says, stopping them in the middle of the lobby. "The house was originally built in the 1840s for the Newburgh family, and they sold it in the 1870s. It stayed in private ownership until the owner had to sell during the Great Depression. He sold to Michael Buchanan in 1931, and Mr. Buchanan turned it into an inn. Despite the Depression, there were enough rich people going on vacation to keep the inn afloat, including a fair number of Hollywood stars.

"Michael Buchanan bequeathed the inn to his daughter, Eloise, when he died, and she kept it going." Bucky doesn't miss the implication there - so don't you screw it up for us.

Steve goes on to point out how the inn has been kept modern over the years, including high-speed internet and Miss Eloise's exhaustive search to find TVs that fit with the aesthetic of the inn. Once that's done, he gestures for them to follow him. 

As they cross through the foyer to go outside and see the grounds, they hear, clear as crystal, a little girl giggling. Bucky feels a bolt of lightning shoot up his spine, and although he doesn't see anything, he immediately pictures the girl he saw that morning in the mirror.

"Hello, Dot," Steve says, sounding more amused than scared. 

"Who's Dot?" Carol asks. She's drawn ahead of Bucky, T'Challa, and Shuri, arm slightly extended as though to keep them behind her. 

"Dot is our resident ghost," Steve explains. "A building this old does have its share of tragedies. We know her name, but we don't know much else about poor Dot, or why she's stuck around here. She doesn't mean any harm."

Bucky remembers the drop of the elevator, and he isn't so sure.

"Are there any other ghosts here?" Shuri asks, the "I told you so" as clear in her voice as though she'd just said it. 

"I don't believe so," Steve says. "We've only gotten reports of Dot." He pushes the door open and continues, closing the subject, "The hotel sits on two-and-a-half acres, so it's very private here, not a lot of noise from town. This way."

He takes them through the grounds and points out some interesting sights and amenities, like the running trail and the well, and inside, they get a floor by floor view. Steve takes them into a regular guest room and shows how similar it is to the Hollywood suite, just a bit smaller. 

"We try to show every guest a high-end experience," he explains. "People come here to escape, and while not all of them have Tony Stark's budget, we still want them to have the same time." He smiles, and Bucky's knees go weak again. "That's the tour. Any questions?"

"Are you seeing anyone?" Shuri asks. Bucky looks at her in horror. "I'm asking for a friend."

"Ah," Steve says, then his words trail off.

"We're going now," T'Challa announces. "Thank you for the tour, Steve." He loops a leading arm around his sister's shoulders and nearly drags her off. Carol follows them, shaking her head.

"Sorry about her," Bucky says uncomfortably. "She thinks she's funny."

"It's okay," Steve assures him. "I was going to tell her it depended on the friend." His eyes twinkle, and he lifts a hand as he turns to go. "See you later, Bucky."

"Yeah, see you," Bucky says, and walks off in a daze.


	3. Chapter 3

"How are you feeling about it?" Carol asks that night. They're on the couches of the Hollywood suite's living room, a bottle of locally-distilled bourbon on the table between them. She plucks a piece of ice out of the holder and drops it into her glass.

"The hotel? I don't know. It's really nice and the people here are great." He pointedly doesn't look at Shuri, who snickers. "I just don't know anything about running a hotel, and spending ninety days here is  _ a long time _ ."

"Maybe she intended it as a boot camp," T'Challa suggests. "Hotel management 101. You own the place and you come out on the other end at least knowing which way is up."

"Maybe. But what happens after the ninety days? Do I stay here? I don't want to give up my life in New York.  _ Everyone's  _ there."

"Yeah, but," Carol says, "you will own a  _ hotel _ . That your friends can come and stay in. For a steep discount, I'm assuming."

"It sounds like you all want me to take it," Bucky says. He doesn't know if he feels flattered that they think he can do it, or insulted that they want to dump him off into Connecticut. 

"We want you to do what's best for you," Shuri corrects him. "Don't be scared of what you don't know."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

They stay up talking for a while longer, then one by one, drift off to bed. Bucky feels like he's barely laid his head down before he starts awake. The room is pitch dark, and he can hear T'Challa's breathing from the other bed. Why did he wake up?

He sits up and freezes. Standing at the end of the bed is the little girl from the mirror. She glows slightly, and he can clearly see the wall behind her through her.

He opens his mouth to try to wake T'Challa, but the little girl presses a finger to her mouth and gestures for him to follow her. Bucky spreads his hands - why in the world should I do that? The girl scowls and stomps her foot silently, gesturing again. 

Despite the entire weirdness of the situation, and the fact that there is a literal, real ghost in front of him, the little tantrum reminds him so much of his sister that he can't help but grin. He also, against his better instincts, nods and gets up to follow her.

She floats through the door and Bucky opens it, slipping through and closing it as quietly as he can. The main room of the suite is quiet and dark, and the girl continues through. At the main door, Bucky slides the latch of the deadbolt so it props the door open a tiny bit. He's not going to get locked out and have to bang on the door to be let back in at who knows what time.

Once they're out in the hallway, the girl turns to him and points to the elevator. 

"Did you make that happen? This morning?"

Oh, this is the part where the idiot white guy goes with the ghost and gets murdered, isn't it? He wonders if Shuri will declare it "typical" when his broken body is discovered at the bottom of the elevator shaft. 

She shakes her head, points again. 

"I don't understand," Bucky says. His mind is racing, trying to figure out what she could possibly be trying to say. "Should I stay away from it?"

She makes a gesture of frustration, then points to herself, then back to the elevator.

"Something happened to you there!" he realizes, with a shock. "Is that where … you…" Somehow, even though he's playing the weirdest game of charades ever, it feels rude to ask if that's how she  _ died. _

She shrugs, and Bucky swears he sees silvery tear tracks on her face.

"That's awful," Bucky says. "Um - is there something I can do?"

Okay, this is the part where she tells him he can help her out by dying, and Steve lifts him out of the elevator shaft the next morning with his big, strong arms. 

She points to herself, then shrugs. Bucky shrugs in return, not getting it. She does it again, more emphatically.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

She stomps a foot silently again, makes the gesture one more time, and then takes a running leap at Bucky. Instinctively, he reaches up to catch her, but his arms close on nothing, and cold envelops him.

The cold is all-encompassing, and he closes his eyes as though that will shut it out. Then, besides the cold, he feels deep, deep loneliness, and one question, echoing louder and louder until it's deafening inside his own head.

_ Who am I? _

The cold and the loneliness suddenly dissipate, and Bucky opens his eyes to find himself kneeling on the floor outside the elevators, entirely alone. Shaking, he gets to his feet, slowly turning.

"Dot?"

No answer, of course. 

He's not getting back to sleep anytime soon.

The next morning, Bucky feels like a mess. He'd come back to bed but after an interminable amount of time staring up at the dark ceiling, he'd given up and just scrolled Instagram until it was a reasonable time to be awake. Every sound made him jump, expecting her to reappear, but this time to actually murder him, instead of pointing and getting mad at him when he didn't get it. 

When he hears footsteps in the other bedroom, he figures it's Carol getting ready for her morning run, so he can be awake now without it being too weird. He sits up and swings his feet over the edge of the bed.

"Where'd you go last night?" T'Challa asks from the other bed. Bucky freezes. 

"Sorry?" 

"Last night. Around 3:30. You got out of bed and didn't come back for nearly half an hour."

"Did you see anyone else?" Bucky asks, trying to sound casual.

"No. It was just you. Were you sleepwalking?"

"I…" Bucky trails off. "Do you remember when Steve mentioned the resident ghost? The little girl? She came to visit me last night."

"What did she want?" To T'Challa's credit, he doesn't laugh or immediately dismiss Bucky's experience. 

"I have no idea. She mostly just pointed at the elevator and got mad when I didn't understand her."

T'Challa smiles. "So your usual interaction with women."

Despite himself, Bucky laughs. "Go to hell. I'm taking a shower."

The shower helps dissipate some of the lingering cold, but the memory of it hangs at the back of Bucky's head as they go downstairs for breakfast. 

_ Who am I? _

Her name is Dot, and she stayed here at some point. She died in the elevator. Presumably this hotel hasn't had too many guests die, so maybe it won't be too hard to track her down. He doesn't own the place (yet, his brain adds, to his surprise) but he can ask Peggy if he can look at the guest records. 

That decided, he goes to the front desk after breakfast. 

"What can you tell me about the ghost here?" he asks.

"Dot?" Peggy asks. She purses her lips, then shakes her head a little. "I'm afraid I don't know very much. She's been here as long as I have - Miss Eloise told me about her when I started here. You may want to ask Steve about her. I don't think anyone knows the nooks and crannies of this place like he does."

"Thanks, Peggy. Where is he?"

Peggy gestures over to the elevators. "Having another look at those. He still hasn't been able to figure out what happened to you yesterday."

Bucky nods and goes over to the elevators. He checks around, then spots Steve over by the fuse box, frowning as he pokes around inside.

"Good morning," he says, hoping to alert Steve to his presence without scaring him.

"Morning, Bucky," Steve says. He gives the briefest sideways glance and smiles just enough to make Bucky think he probably isn't bothering him. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about Dot. Peggy said you were the best person to ask."

"I see." Steve straightens up and checks his watch. "Now's not a good time, I need to take care of a few more things this morning. I take my lunch around one - that work for you?"

Bucky's heart definitely does not trip against his ribs, and he certainly doesn't feel a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies launch out of his stomach. 

"Yeah, one's fine." So casual. So cool. So definitely not internally melting down. 

"Great. Meet me back here then." He smiles, and Bucky smiles back, giving him a quick nod before turning and walking away. 

After enduring a morning of relentless teasing from Carol and Shuri, Bucky goes back to the lobby around five till one. 

"No jacket?" Steve asks, eyebrows raised. He's wearing a leather jacket with a white scarf wrapped around his neck, making him look like a debonair stunt pilot from the 1940s. 

"I didn't know I'd need it," Bucky says. "Are we going somewhere?" Good God, is this a date? 

"Yeah, there's a place I thought I'd show you downtown. Figured you might want to get to know the town a little better, too." He eyes Bucky, and Bucky tries not to flush under the examination. "You'll be all right. We'll just be in the car."

As they leave the hotel, Bucky sends a text to the group text:  _ going to lunch with Steve now. Will drop a pin when I get there. If I don't come back in four hours, I've been murdered. _

Shuri sends back a dagger and a ghost emoji. Carol sends  _ OOOOOOOOOOOO _ , and only T'Challa tells him to stay safe.

Steve's car is parked around front, and although Bucky does wish he had his jacket, it's not a far walk. 

"How do you like it so far?" Steve asks, glancing over at him. 

"It's good," Bucky replies. "Everyone seems really nice, and the hotel is beautiful."

Steve smiles like a proud father. "We work hard to keep it up. Still trying to figure out what happened in that elevator, though. Mind telling me about it?"

Bucky shrugs. "We were waiting for the elevator and - " _I_ _ saw that girl  _ \- "and when we got on, the lights all went off and it dropped. I don't think it was far, but it scared the hell out of us."

"Hm." Steve turns on the car. "We haven't had any reports from anyone else. I'd think it was just a one-time fluke, but I don't like leaving it be, just in case it's not."

"Maybe the hotel knows I'm the new owner and doesn't like me." 

"I very much doubt  _ that _ ." The warmth in Steve's voice surprises Bucky. They'd just met - there's no way Steve can have made that much of an assessment of Bucky and decided he likes him, right?

On the way downtown, Steve points out interesting and historical sights, like the town cemetery and the only building surviving from the town's founding. He pulls up in front of a restaurant called Lucy & Emma and turns off the car.

"This is one of my favorite places," he tells Bucky. "Can't beat the tomato bisque here."

Bucky smiles, and waits for Steve to head into the restaurant before he drops a pin with his location in the group chat. He doesn't actually believe that Steve will hurt him, but Carol has always insisted on it whenever any of them go on a date. 

Even though, as this turns out, this isn't a date. It seems to be an exhibition, and the main display is James Barnes. First things first, Steve introduces him to the owner, May, and mentions that Bucky is Miss Eloise's great-nephew. May shakes his hand with great enthusiasm, and even introduces him to her cockapoos, who the restaurant is named after. The streams of introductions continue as May takes them to their table. She seems to know everyone in the place, and all of them knew Bucky's great-aunt.

"I remember you," one of the older ladies says when May, Steve, and Bucky stop by her table. "You'd come here with your parents and little sister. Miss Eloise was so sad when you all stopped coming to visit."

"Do you happen to know why -" Bucky starts, but before he can finish the thought, he's being hauled off to meet someone else.

Finally, they are seated at a table by a picture window that overlooks a rolling wintry vista. The sunlight sparkles on the snow.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Steve asks. 

Bucky nods. "Beautiful. Different from New York. The snow never stays white for this long there."

"Feels like it comes down from the sky already grey, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does. Various shades of black and grey."

They put in their orders - Steve gets the tomato bisque and Bucky gets a burger - before they return to the point of the meeting.

"You wanted to ask me about Dot?"

"I do. Peggy says you know more about her than just about anyone."

Steve considers that. "Yeah, that's fair. I've come across her a lot."

"What does she look like?"

"I've only seen her once or twice," Steve answers. "She's usually just sound - like we heard on the tour. But I know I'll never forget the couple of times I have seen her - it was in a mirror, both times. I looked up and she was behind me, just … staring. I knew it was her right away."

"What did she look like?" Bucky repeats. 

"She looked like you'd expect a little girl to look," Steve says, quiet, thoughtful. "Pretty pinafore dress, head full of perfect curls. Both times, as soon as I saw her, she'd realize it and vanish."

That matches the girl Bucky had seen last night. 

"Did she ever say anything to you?"

"Nah, never." Steve hushes for a moment as their food arrives, thanking the waitress with a smile that sends a flash of jealousy through Bucky. He wishes that smile was aimed at  _ him. _

All right, calm down, Barnes, he tells himself. 

"Why the interest?" Steve asks.

Bucky sets down his burger. "I'm gonna sound crazy," he admits, "but I saw her in the mirror just before the elevator dropped. It's like you said - she was staring at me, then vanished, then the elevator acted up. Then last night, she … never mind, this all sounds ridiculous now that I'm saying out loud."

"No, finish, please," Steve says. Bucky glances up, and the look in Steve's eyes is one-hundred percent earnest. For a moment, he's struck dumb.

"Oh, uh. She came into the room I was sharing with T'Challa, and gestured for me to follow her out. She was trying to tell me something to do with the elevator, and herself, but I didn't get it. She got mad at me - I think - and vanished."

"She came into the room?" Steve echoes. "Did she talk to you?"

Bucky shakes his head. "We were pretty much playing charades, which I suck at."

"Huh." Steve picks up his abandoned spoon and takes a few sips of his soup. "You're right, it does sound ridiculous -"

"Thanks!"

"But not unbelievable. I've never had another guest come to me with a story like that, but maybe Dot senses something in you."

"Did my great aunt ever mention anything?"

"Just what the rest of the staff say. Giggling, footsteps, cold spots. Nothing as prolonged as your contact with her."

"But you believe me?"

"No reason not to. I'm glad we got to talk about this - and lunch was nice, too." That smile comes back, but there's something almost shy about it that hadn't been there when he'd turned it on the waitress. "Are you the friend?"

It takes Bucky a minute to realize what Steve is referencing, and he groans. "I'm gonna kill Shuri."

Steve chuckles. "Noted." He pulls a couple of bills out of his wallet and sets them on the table. 

"Oh, how much-" Bucky gets out before Steve cuts him off with a wave.

"My treat. You gave the people here something to talk about."

"Thanks."

Well … maybe it was a date, after all.


	4. Chapter 4

They go back to the hotel and Steve bids Bucky farewell. Bucky takes the elevator back up to the Hollywood suite and finds Carol there. She's got her headphones in and waves to Bucky.

"Huh? Oh, Bucky just got back. He didn't get murdered by the super hot handyman." Carol listens for a moment and laughs. She plucks out an earbud. "Maria says hi and good job."

"Thanks, Maria. Hi."

Carol puts her earbud back in and Bucky goes into his bedroom. Meeting with Steve hadn't answered any questions, just brought up more. It felt good to be believed, at least. 

He feels jittery and restless, though, so he gets out his phone.

_ Where are you? _

Shuri texts back.  _ Breakfast nook. _

He goes back out into the hallway and glances in the mirror by the elevator, half expecting to see a solemn little face staring back at him. 

He blinks. That can't be right. He glances over his shoulder. All the lights in the hallway are burning steadily, no shadows to be seen. Not like in the mirror, which had shown a dark, forbidding corridor.

Bucky shakes it off as the elevator arrives and steps in. The doors close, and he instantly feels a cold frisson of terror down his spine. 

This was a mistake -

The lights shut off and the elevator drops. Bucky grabs for something, anything to hold on to, and then it stops. Bucky slams against the wall and falls. The elevator begins to rise again. He looks at the floor selector panel, but only the lobby button is lit. He stumbles to his feet and presses it again. As soon as he does, the elevator grinds to a stop.

This time, he at least has a moment to grab the bar around the elevator before it plummets again. It stops sharply, then descends again before opening at the lobby as though nothing happened. Bucky rushes out and makes a beeline to the breakfast nook. Shuri is there, laptop open, headphones on. Her eyes are focused on the screen, fingers flying across the keyboard. She glances up at Bucky and raises an eyebrow, taking off her headphones. 

"You look whiter than usual."

"The elevator took me on a joyride again." 

"Consider the stairs. You okay?"

"A couple bruises, I think. Nothing permanent." He exhales. "Can we look something up on your computer?"

"Yeah, let me save." While she does, Bucky gets a chair and brings it around next to her. She closes out of the program she'd been working on and looks at him. "What is it?"

"I want to know more about Dot."

"The ghost?" Shuri sounds delighted. "I've been doing some preliminary research. Come look." She gestures him closer and opens a folder in her browser called OOKY SPOOKY. Inside the folder are bookmarks for websites with "paranormal" and "unexplained" in the titles. Shuri clicks one and the page loads.

_ The Ghostly Girl of the Newburgh Inn _ , the header reads. 

"There's not a lot of information," Shuri says, scrolling past desaturated pictures of the hotel's exterior and lobby, "but what I've been able to find all seems to be about the same. Here, this is a good summary."

Bucky leans over to get a better look at the laptop screen. He skims through the filler about the beautiful landscape around the hotel and the brief history of the town it's situated in, then spots what he's looking for.

_ For decades, employees of the hotel have reported of a playful little girl named Dot. No one seems sure if it's a nickname given by the staff or her actual name. What is sure, however, is that the reports of Dot began around 1933, shortly after the hotel opened for operation. However, none of the staff seemed to know if Dot died there or if she merely appeared in the hotel around that time.  _

_ The Ellport Star does report that child star Ruby Carr was staying at the Newburgh Inn in December 1933 with her parents and manager, shortly before the entire family vanished. The disappearance of Ruby Carr has baffled Hollywood for eight decades now - though police searched the Newburgh from top to bottom, and could find no trace of the Carr family, or Ruby's manager. Unfortunately, since no one has ever reported a physical manifestation of Dot, we cannot confirm if Dot is, indeed, Ruby. _

"Can you pull up a picture of Ruby Carr?" Bucky asks. He hears the tension in his voice and swallows.

Shuri glances over at him. "You know something?"

"I'm curious."

Shuri types "Ruby Carr" into the search bar and pulls up a page of results. Bucky's heart dives into his stomach. 

It's her.

Ruby Carr, child star, has the same sweet round face Bucky recalls and - as Steve had put it - a head of perfect curls. 

"You look like someone just stepped on your instep," Shuri says, shaking him out of his reverie. "What's up?"

"I've seen her," Bucky says.

Shuri puts her phone on the table and taps a button. "Tell me everything. "

"So remember the first time the elevator started acting up, when we were coming down for dinner?"

Once Shuri has wrung every possible detail out of him - even of the late-night, confusing encounter with the silent specter - she tells him to let her know the instant anything else happens.

"And don't get murdered by the ghost," she adds. "I don't want to make T'Challa explain that to your mom."

"Yeah, noted." Bucky stands up. "I think I'm going to ask Peggy if I can look at the hotel records from that time."

"Might be useful," Shuri says, head already back to her laptop. Taking it as a dismissal, Bucky goes to the front desk.

"Good afternoon, Bucky," Peggy says. "How can I help you?"

"I have kind of a weird request," Bucky says. "I was hoping to look through the old records?"

"Looking for more information on Dot?" Peggy asks. "You're not the first to go through those, but you're welcome to give them a look."

"Would it be okay if someone else joined me?" 

The look Peggy gives him makes it clear that: one) she believes the "someone else" is Steve, and two) they'll be studying  _ something _ , but not the hotel records. 

"Just don't knock anything over." She unlatches the door leading behind the front desk and gestures a blushing Bucky through. "Back here."

Once he's settled in, he sends a quick text to the group chat to let them know where he is and if any of them want to help. He doesn't expect any takers but he figures the offer can't hurt. 

The door opens a bit later and Bucky looks up from his box of records and smiles in surprise and relief as Peggy leads T'Challa in. The Newburgh has very thorough records going all the way back to the hotel's establishment - and they're  _ all _ paper.

"Happy hunting," she tells them. 

T'Challa takes a seat across from him. 

"Looking for ghosts?"

"The Carr family. December 1933. Or - around that time."

They search through page after page of carefully notated records: family name, duration of stay, beginning and end dates, number of people, cost of stay, reason for visit. Each page is marked with the initials of the employer who wrote it down, and Bucky quickly starts to identify MB, with their neat copperplate writing, from CJ, whose spidery script overflows each line, from HD, who likes to make little notes about each guest: "a bit rude," "kind," "military," "nice smile."

1933, despite being during the Clutch Plague, seemed to be a great year for the Newburgh Inn, judging by the number of records they sort through. 

"Bucky?" T'Challa's voice cuts through the silence, startling Bucky. "Carr?"

"Yeah. Did you find it?" 

"Here." He hands the card over and Bucky takes it. Surely it can't be this easy. 

He looks it over. "CARR, JOHN. Five nights. 12/4 - 12/9. Four guests. Requested adjoining rooms (x-ref #3312043)."

So it isn't that easy. He wonders about the adjoining room. Four people - the website had mentioned Ruby's parents and manager. That's four people, but who's in the adjoining room?

"T'Challa, do you have a record number 3312043 there?"

"Where do I - ah, in the corner. Hang on." T'Challa shifts through the papers and finds another card. "Victor Stanley?"

"Yeah, thanks." Bucky takes the card and examines it. 

"STANLEY, VICTOR. Five nights. 12/4 - 12/9. One guest. Requested adjoining rooms (x-ref #3312042)."

Bucky gets out his phone and does a quick search for the name Victor Stanley. A webpage about the golden age of Hollywood comes up and he taps it. Most of the information seems irrelevant, but he keeps skimming.

"Top talent agent Victor Stanley mysteriously vanished after a stay with a client in a hotel in New England. (See more information about the disappearance of Ruby Carr and her family  here. ) No bodies were ever found, despite thorough search by the police force. The case remains open, but cold, to this day."

Bucky taps the word "here" to see more about the disappearance of Ruby Carr. It doesn't have much more information about it than Shuri's paranormal website did, but it does have a couple of personal pictures, acquired from the Carr family. 

Bucky looks through them, and stops at the last one. It shows two girls together, arms around each other, beaming. One of them is the girl Bucky recognizes - and the other looks nearly identical to her. The caption reads, 

"Ruby and her sister, Dorothy, shortly before their disappearance."

Dorothy.  _ Dot _ . 

"There's two of them," Bucky realizes.

"What?" says T'Challa. 

Bucky pushes his phone across the table so T'Challa can see.

"There's two ghosts here. There's Dot  _ and _ Ruby. Something happened to both of them." He pulls his phone back. "I need to ask Shuri to research Ruby Carr's disappearance. No one here seems to know anything."

"I'll do it." T'Challa gets out his own phone and taps against the keyboard. His phone buzzes a moment later. "She demands the full story."

"Have her and Carol meet us upstairs. We can go over this together." Holding the papers for the Carrs and Victor Stanley, Bucky gets up and goes to the door. "Peggy, can I make some copies?"

"Of course, right over here." She smiles at him. "Did you find anything good?"

"I think so." Bucky smiles back and goes to the copying machine. 

"So what are we going to do about this?" Carol asks, once Bucky, T'Challa, and Shuri have covered their respective discoveries. 

"What do you mean?" Bucky asks.

"We can't just leave them there," Carol says. "We have the pieces to reunite them and help them rest. They're just babies."

"I mean, I guess we can see if Ruby comes to me again tonight," Bucky says. "She wanted to know who she was. If I can tell her, and tell her that her sister is here too, maybe that'll help."

"Seems to be putting a lot on chance," Shuri points out. "I don't think you actually want to inherit a haunted hotel, Bucky."

"I don't know if I'm taking it yet," Bucky protests. In all honesty, he'd kind of forgotten about why they were actually here, and the reminder brings another wave of anxiety and nerves. 

"Yeah, right," Shuri says. She twists her laptop back towards her. "I'm sure I can find something to summon a specific spirit."

"Wait, wait, summoning a spirit? I don't like the sound of that," T'Challa says. 

"You don't like the sound of much," Shuri retorts. T'Challa looks to Carol for backup, but she shrugs. 

"If we're doing arcane rituals, we should probably tell Steve," is all she offers. "So the city slickers don't burn the place down."

That is how, just before three AM, Bucky, T'Challa, Shuri, Carol, and Steve are outside the elevator bank. T'Challa is holding a piece of chalk and carefully following a diagram on Shuri's phone. Steve is watching, a small frown on his face, arms crossed over his chest. Bucky is glad he's not the one drawing the diagram, because he's so distracted by Steve's arms that he'd probably end up drawing a big heart instead of whatever shape he's supposed to.

"There," T'Challa says. He checks the diagram on the phone again, then what he's drawn. "Yeah, that's done. Here." He deposits the phone back into his sister's waiting hand, and Shuri scrolls down to check the next step. 

"Now we light the purple candles at either end," she reports. Carol steps forward with a purple candle in a glass globe and sets it down at one end of the drawing, and Bucky does the same at the other end. Carol takes a lighter out of her pocket and lights each candle.

"Now what?" Steve asks, eyeing the candles with clear displeasure. It had been at his insistence that they'd gotten the glass globe candle holders, to minimize the chance of wax drippings or fire risk. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits of having Steve around, having someone around to think of safety logistics had also been a plus. 

"Now we wait," Shuri says. 

"I just wanted to say thanks," Bucky says, after a moment of silence. "This wasn't supposed to be like this - ghosts and seances and all of that. But you're all going through it and sticking with me. Thanks."

"You better give us free stays here as often as we want," Shuri retorts.

Steve glances at him. "You're considering taking the inn?"

"I'm still thinking about it," Bucky hedges, and there's a shot of surprise at the look of - is that disappointment? on Steve's face. Before he can blunder any further, T'Challa points to the drawing.

"Everyone!"

Something, misty and white, is slowly starting to build in the center of the drawing. It coalesces into two legs, two arms, a body, a head of perfect curls, and piercing eyes. The girl swivels her head to take in her whole audience, then looks at Bucky.

"Who are they?" Her voice is clear and melodious, putting Bucky in mind of a bell. 

"Dot?" Steve says, soft, shocked. The girl looks at him, and shifts a little, like she's uncomfortable, then turns back to Bucky.

"It's okay, Ruby," Bucky says. "They're my friends. We're here to help."

"Ruby," says the girl. She touches herself, just below the lace of her collar. "I'm Ruby, aren't I?"

"You are," Bucky says, letting out a little laugh of relief. "Ruby Carr. You used to be a movie star. You came here in December 1933 with - "

"My family," Ruby finishes. "And - " Her eyes widen in shock and fear. "And my manager. Look out!"

"Bucky!" Carol yells. 

Bucky whirls and feels his heart freeze in his chest. The hallway, normally lit by sconces along the walls, has gone completely dark, and tendrils of darkness creep along the walls towards him, forming into a shape directly in front of him. It gives off such a strong feeling of evil that Bucky can't breathe. For a moment, it stands, and Bucky gets the distinct feeling that it's sizing him up. Then, faster than he can follow, it surrounds him in a cocoon of blackness.

"You came back," a voice growls into his ear. "I tried to collect you before, but you got away."

Like a door has been broken down, the memories come flooding back. A tiny point of light hanging above him, drawing him out of bed, leaving his parents and sister sleeping behind him. The little point of light had bobbed and woven over and around him, making him laugh as he tries to catch it. It lets him cup his hands around it but never actually touch it, and it leads him out of the room and into the hallway, down to the bank of elevators.

The dark hallway seems to stretch on for infinity, and Bucky sticks close to the little point of light for the illumination it provides. It guides him to the elevators, and the doors of one open, the warm golden light spilling out onto the carpet. The little ball of light dives into the elevator and seems to wait for him. Bucky lifts a foot.

"JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES!" He's never heard his mother sound so terrified, and it breaks the spell. Scared, he looks down the hallway and sees his mother barrelling towards him, and even though he's seven years old, she scoops him up like he weighs nothing. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY SON!"

"You lured me into the elevator when I was a kid," Bucky realizes. "You were going to kill me? Like you did Ruby and Dot?"

"Dot?" Ruby's voice wavers. "What happened to Dot?"

The shadows lock around Bucky's wrists and ankles and force him to turn around. Carol glances at Steve, and he sees some kind of silent communication flicker between them. 

"You," the voice continues, and Bucky shudders to feel the cold air rush past his ear, like their mouth is right there - "needed a tragic backstory, little Ruby Carr. You wouldn't be cute forever. You had the talent, but you needed a  _ hook _ . What better than a family vacation gone wrong?"

"So you gave her one," T'Challa says, and disgust in his voice is tangible. "But you screwed up - she's dead, too."

"Sisters," the being sneers. "They look too damn much alike in the dark. The other one woke up and took off. I didn't have a choice; couldn't have anyone spoiling the story. I had to sabotage the elevator."

"What about my parents?" Ruby looks around, as though expecting them to appear as well. Bucky can't move his head, so, half-expecting them to show up, glances around. 

Shuri's missing. 

He cuts his eyes to T'Challa, who … winks. He isn't sure what that's supposed to convey, but he doesn't dare open his mouth and ask. 

The darkness undulates over his arms and legs, slowly pulling in tighter and tighter. Bucky wants to fight it off, but he can't move.

"Your parents woke up to two dead daughters and the story of an obsessed fan who broke in and killed their little girls in the night," the dark being says. "I tried to fight him off, I told them, but he escaped into the night. For the sake of their lives, I told them to run, change their names, lest the same thing befall them."

"Which is why they never found any bodies," Carol says. "Because you took care of the girls, and the parents took care of themselves."

Dark tendrils wrap around Bucky's neck, and he gasps at the pressure he feels building. 

"And you, you would have made such a good playmate for the girls," the darkness coos. "You had such an energy about you, and you still do. A little old now, but Ruby seems to have taken a shine to you, hasn't she?"

Bucky gags as it tightens further around his neck and he can't breathe, black spots are dancing in his vision -

"GET OFF OF HIM!" Shuri screams from behind them, and the presence whirls with him in its grip long enough for Bucky to see Shuri holding a handful of something white. She runs and flings it at them. The presence suddenly dissipates and Bucky collapses to his knees, coughing. Strong arms wrap around him and help him to his feet.

"You okay?" Steve asks. In a marked, and pleasant, contrast to the presence of Victor Stanley, his breath is warm. Bucky nods, massaging his throat, and doesn't make a move to disengage from Steve's arms. Steve also doesn't seem to be in any hurry to move them. 

"What was that?" Bucky asks when he can speak again. He points to the white residue on the floor.

"Salt," Shuri says. "Causes a painful disruption of spiritual energy, which makes the ghost dissipate. I learned it from  _ Supernatural _ ." She looks over Bucky's shoulder. "You okay?"

Bucky turns as well to see Ruby still in the summoning circle. She nods. 

"Is Dot still here too?" she asks.

"She is," Steve says. "Would you like to see her?"

Ruby nods eagerly. "Can I?"

"I think it needs to be me that takes her," Bucky says. He looks to Ruby. "Right?"

"I think so too," Ruby says. "Mr. Stanley was right. You have an energy like mine."

Bucky regretfully untangles himself from Steve's arms and goes to the elevator, pressing the button.

"Bucky," Carol says. "Are you sure about this?"

"We can't leave this halfway done, Carol," Bucky says. "I'll be okay." He holds out his hand for Ruby's, and he feels a slight, cold pressure as she takes it. The doors open, and they step in. 

The elevator doors re-open on the lobby and Bucky and Ruby step out, still hand-in-hand. 

"Ruby!" At first it's just a voice, then running footsteps, and by the time another little girl with pigtails tackles Ruby in a hug, she's fully visible. 

"Dot!" The two girls cling to each other, finally ending an eighty year separation. 

"Are you ready to go?" Dot asks.

Ruby nods. "I'm tired." She turns to Bucky. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiles, and her smile in return is radiant. She turns to her sister and takes her hand. They start towards the door, and by the time it swings open, they've vanished. 

Bucky goes to the front door and closes it behind them. He lets his hand rest on the door for a moment.

I want this, he realizes. I like it here. Maybe not forever, but I think I can handle it for three months. 

Three months in Steve's company only sweetens the deal. He smiles to himself, then goes back to take the elevator upstairs again.

The next morning, the hotel seems different. Brighter. Maybe it's because the spirits are gone, or maybe it's because Steve has his arm draped around the back of Bucky's chair. 

"I think if we leave around noon, we'll get back to New York in time for dinner," T'Challa says, examining the map on his phone. 

"You'll be back?" Steve asks Bucky.

Bucky takes a bite of his bacon. "Yeah, I think I will be."

"Free rooms for your ghost-fighting team," Carol teases. 

"You're gonna have to earn your keep," Bucky shoots back. "Better find some more ghosts to fight."

"You heard the man, let's make some ghosts," Shuri says, and the table breaks into laughter. 

Just after noon, the group goes to the front desk to check out. Bucky signs the credit receipt.

"I hope we'll see you again soon," Peggy says. 

Bucky smiles at her. "I think you will."

Movement catches his eye, and he spots Steve awkwardly loitering nearby. 

"We'll head out to the car," says Carol. She and the siblings head towards the door, and Steve gestures Bucky to the breakfast nook. Now that breakfast is over, they're alone among the tables.

"So," Bucky says, when Steve doesn't speak. 

"Yeah." Steve smiles to himself, then takes a bracing breath. "Can I kiss you goodbye?"

"I would be mad if you didn't."

They close the distance and Steve bends slightly, pressing his mouth to Bucky's. Bucky feels a shot of lightning down his spine and eagerly moves into it, arms wrapping around Steve's neck. Steve eagerly puts his arms around Bucky's waist. The kiss deepens, and Bucky surprises himself by being the one to introduce tongue - not that Steve seems to mind. 

When they finally break apart, there's a faint pink blush across Steve's cheekbones. 

"You'll be back?" he says.

"After the new year."

Steve's grin is slightly feral, and Bucky suddenly wishes it wasn't another three weeks until he came back. "Don't bring pajamas."

Before Bucky can say anything, Steve kisses him again, and Bucky takes the time to memorize the way Steve's hands feel on his hips, the scent of him, the way he tastes. It's going to be a long three weeks.

"See you after the new year," Steve says.

Bucky pulls out his phone. "Give me your number and I'll see you tonight."

Steve enters his number into Bucky's phone. "All right. See you tonight."

Although it kills him, Bucky steps away from Steve, towards the exit. "I gotta go."

"Safe travels." 

Bucky waves and heads back into the lobby, where Peggy bids him goodbye as well, with a smile that's a little too knowing for his liking. 

His footsteps thud on the front steps as he goes outside to the car. At the bottom of the steps, he stops, looks up at the building. In the first five floors, he sees movement, lights - normal hotel activity.

The sixth floor is completely pitch black. 

His hands tighten. 

I'll be back, he vows. I won't have you in  _ my _ hotel. 

Resolute, he turns his back on the hotel and gets into the driver's seat.

"Hey Shuri," he says, before any of them can ask about him and Steve, "what's the most efficient way to sage a hotel?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Shuri says, and as Bucky starts to drive, she gets into the process.

He's not scared. Well, maybe a little. But with his ghost-fighting team, and Steve, behind him, he knows they can take anything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading! Merry Christmas, Azrel, I hope you loved your fic! I had a ball writing it.


End file.
